Panama City Beach officials are concerned that the city’s legal fees have increased. Councilman Keith Curry wonders whether it might be cheaper to have an attorney on staff to do the work.

Here’s a better idea: Stop making unnecessary laws.

The News Herald’s Valerie Garman reported last week that according to City Clerk Holly White, the city is $35,000 over budget on legal services. The city likely will have to move money from the general fund to the administrative budget to cover the expenses through the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

An analysis by City Attorney Doug Sale showed that a large amount of the increased legal fees comes from the development of new city ordinances. That includes $6,000 for an ordinance to regulate powered paragliding and $12,000 to explore an ordinance to limit the amount of time campaign signs could be displayed.

That’s at least $18,000 — more than half the reported overage — dedicated to laws the city can do without.

Officials never could come up with a good reason why they needed a paragliding ordinance. And the one they passed led to the elimination of a popular, locally organized paragliding event that was the largest in the nation, one that drew hundreds of participants and vendors and attracted positive coverage from international paragliding magazines and websites.

The sign ordinance dictated the number of political signs a person could place on his property and the amount of time they could be displayed. That raised thorny First Amendment issues that were more difficult to navigate than putting up with the actual “problem” of political signs.

Councilman John Reichard, an advocate of the sign ordinance, said last week it “was something that really cost more than we anticipated.”

In the future elected officials should pay closer attention to weighing the real costs of pursuing more rules and regulations against the alleged benefits before they act.